Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Labour's narrative stumbles at the first hurdle
In the midst of wrongly portraying the recent budget as lining the pockets of the rich, Labour have dismally failed to put their ballots where their mouth is. Sophy Ridge on the Sky News blog reveals that far from voting against the budget tax changes, just two Labour MPs walked into the 'No' lobby:
Tory MP and assistant whip Greg Hands posed the question on Twitter: "When Labour said that 50p tax rate was temporary, were they referring to the rate itself or their 4-day opposition to its abolition?"
While the Conservative MP Gavin Barwell teasingly tweeted Labour's Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rachel Reeves: "There was a vote on 50p at 10.41 last night & you along with vast majority of Labour MPs didn't vote #payattentionattheback"
Lib Dem MPs also got stuck in, with deputy leader Simon Hughes saying: "After five days of huff and puff from Ed Balls, and sustained protest about the proposal to lower the highest level of tax rate next year, Labour MPs were not in the Chamber to vote against the change. This says all the public needs to know about Labour's position."
Red faces all round. Maybe it is true that Labour had planned to axe the 50p tax rate themselves and now cannot bring themselves to admit it.
Tory MP and assistant whip Greg Hands posed the question on Twitter: "When Labour said that 50p tax rate was temporary, were they referring to the rate itself or their 4-day opposition to its abolition?"
While the Conservative MP Gavin Barwell teasingly tweeted Labour's Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rachel Reeves: "There was a vote on 50p at 10.41 last night & you along with vast majority of Labour MPs didn't vote #payattentionattheback"
Lib Dem MPs also got stuck in, with deputy leader Simon Hughes saying: "After five days of huff and puff from Ed Balls, and sustained protest about the proposal to lower the highest level of tax rate next year, Labour MPs were not in the Chamber to vote against the change. This says all the public needs to know about Labour's position."
Red faces all round. Maybe it is true that Labour had planned to axe the 50p tax rate themselves and now cannot bring themselves to admit it.
